Sunday, October 26, 2008

Do you ever get those free magnets in your junk mail? We always save them because hey, they're free! But after a while, our fridge started looking like a big commercial:

Which was very ugly.

So I decided to redecorate the magnets. I used some scrapbooking stuff people had given us, as well as cutting up a bunch of photos and old cards and things. What do you think? Which one is your fave? (click on the photo to see it bigger!)

Thursday, October 23, 2008

In response to comments on my last post, I’d like to address two points:

1. It was suggested that all of the quotes in the video were taken out of context. I agree that the first one might be taken out of context, which is why I made my comment afterward in the comments section. I was worried about that before posting the clip, and I hope that his mention of STD’s right after the baby comment helps establish the context.

However, I don’t think we should disregard what he is saying in that clip. Before posting it, I listened to more of the speech (link) he was giving. He is saying that although we should teach abstinence, teens should also receive education about contraceptives, etc. I agree that teens should be educated on such matters, but they need to be taught that having a baby IS the consequence of having sex. It is not a punishment for a mistake or misbehaving, it is nature’s consequence. One that cannot be ignored or ‘unchosen’ as Elder Nelson says. And I don’t think that there are many teens in America in this day and age who don’t know where babies come from, so we need to hold them responsible for their actions.

I also had watched more of the speech he made for Planned Parenthood (link) before posting the video, and am satisfied that it was not taken out of context. Obama would (and he mentioned this himself in the last presidential debate) appoint judges who have similar viewpoints as his. I think that that is something we need to be aware of (think about what judges have taken into their own hands recently from the bench!).

Whether you think the clips in the video are taken out of context or not, you can look at Obama’s track record. He has a record for being extreme on abortion. He was the only state senator in Illinois to repeatedly speak against a law that would mandate care for the fetus (baby) who survives an abortion. The following quote describes what happened:

“Well, this is the story of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act and it goes back to a hospital in the southwest suburbs of Chicago called Christ Hospital where they were performing on a regular basis induced labor abortions and these are late second, early third trimester abortions in which the drugs are given to the mother to induce violent labor and the baby is usually killed in the contractions and comes out. But about 15 to 20% of the time this produces a a live baby is born, I should say. And sometimes the babies will live just for a few minutes, sometimes for several hours. But this hospital was not giving any thought to medical treatment for them when they survived and could have potentially lived on and saved in incubator under whatever sort of medical technology we have to keep premature babies alive. They were simply shelving…

According to the nurse, Jill Stanek whom I interviewed for the kids against Barack Obama, they were one of the places they would put these babies to die while they were struggling is the utility closet where medical waste goes. According to the hospital they were putting them into comfort rooms where they would just simply leave them to die with a blanket or something…

Barack Obama was the only state senator to speak against this law…

In all the times it came up, in fact, he was the only one to speak against it. And his speech that he gave is very interesting, and I've given it in full in Chapter 10 of The Case Against Barack Obama because the argument is basically this, that if we go and recognize premature babies born alive in what some people call a previable condition, although they were clearly living for a while, if we do this, then it might down the road affect the right to abortion…

Senator Obama voted he voted present on that bill. It was part of a strategy that he devised, that he and some Planned Parenthood lobbyists had devised that basically everyone would vote present instead of voting no. And just so you know, it came up the following year; he did it again.”

2. As for special abortion circumstances, I urge everyone to read the full article by Elder Nelson (link). It’s so good. He makes the point that “circumstances in which the termination of pregnancy is necessary to save the life of the mother are very rare, particularly where modern medical care is available.” He says that abortions due to rape or incest are also very rare. And he tells a story about a family who was urged to have an abortion because the baby was probably going to end up with severe defects, but they chose not to and had a beautiful baby girl who was deaf, but had the intellect of a genius. Elder Nelson talks about adoption, too. And he says that “more than 40 million abortions are performed per year” worldwide. Sadly, I don’t believe that most of those are due to the circumstances previously mentioned.

I am not saying that abortion should never be legal under any circumstances. And I am not saying that I am a John McCain supporter. But I am saying that there are people with extreme views on abortion who are killing those beautiful unborn babies in the name of “choice.” And we need to protect those babies.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Something I Strongly Agree With"Yes, a woman is free to choose what she will do with her body....[H]er choice to begin the journey binds her to the consequences of that choice. She cannot 'unchoose.'

"When the controversies about abortion are debated, 'individual right of choice' is invoked as though it were the one supreme virtue. That could only be true if but one person were involved. The rights of any one individual do not allow the rights of another individual to be abused. In or out of marriage, abortion is not solely an individual matter. Terminating the life of a developing baby involves two individuals with separate bodies, brains, and hearts. A woman's choice for her own body does not include the right to deprive her baby of life--and a lifetime of choices that her child would make."

Monday, October 20, 2008

1. The ice cream truck haunts our neighborhood. I have seen it just parked across the street with the music playing. I have seen it make U-turns back and forth along our street over and over again. I know exactly where the tune stops and restarts every time.

2. Our upstairs neighbors sometimes like to have fun late at night. This includes loud laughter, things being dropped, and even some good arguments.

3. The train tracks are very close to our apartment. The train has a lovely schedule that includes trips past our neighborhood at around 11 pm and 4 am or so. As it passes, the train blows its horn repeatedly, holding it down each time for durations of 1 - 5 seconds. Sometimes it seems like it is parked there, honking. Sometimes it seems like there are two trains having a honking conversation. I'm pretty sure the engineer is just grumpy and wants the rest of us to be awake with him!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Are you looking for a good movie to watch? Tired of scummy crummy movies? Well, here are four movies that I recommend:

1. City of Ember-

This movie just opened in theaters last weekend. It is exciting and suspenseful, and a great family movie. The kids play their parts really well, and it also features a couple of my fave actors, Bill Murray and Tim Robbins. You should go support this movie while it's still in theaters; we need more good family movies that aren't cheesy!

2. Bella-

This is currently my favorite movie. It's rated PG-13, but not for anything inappropriate-- it just has some serious issues it deals with. I don't want to tell you anything more about this movie because I don't want to ruin it, but it is soooo good. And very well-made.

3. The Greatest Game Ever Played-

You probably already know that I'm not a big sports fan; in fact, I don't really like sports at all. But I really enjoyed this movie. The cinematography is fantastic, and a really unique way of shooting a golf movie. And of course, Shia LeBeouf does an excellent job as the main character of this classic underdog tale. Based on a true story.

4. Kung Fu Panda-

Okay, so this movie's really silly. But if you're a Jack Black fan, or really even if you're not, I think you would enjoy it like I did. Plus, I was totally preparing myself for the crude humor that is in a lot of other animated "kid" films these days (like Shrek or Open Season for example. blah.) but was pleasantly surprised! Totally appropriate to show to your kids, and just a fun little movie.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

I came across our engagement photos the other day and slipped back into old happy memories...

I often feel nostalgic as I look at old pictures. For some reason I feel sad as I look at them, and almost wish I could go back and relive the moments they have captured, no matter how happy I am today. Why is that? It's funny that I would feel that way about our engagement photos-- they mark a time when Josh and I were focused on the future, excited about the lifetime of possibilities ahead of us.

I often look forward to future times when my son will be crawling, walking, talking, going to school. I often think "I can't wait until Friday" or "Christmas is just months away" or "Someday when we buy a home..." instead of enjoying the day, the hour, the minute I am living.

Before I left for Peru, my cousin Michele told me to "cherish every moment" of my mission. I often remembered that advice while I served, but did I ever follow it? Did I really appreciate how wonderful that experience was as I lived it? In the blink of an eye, the 18 months ended and I was back home as if I'd never left.

Is that just the nature of who we are-- never quite living in the present? Always longing for the past or dreaming of the future? Will my life pass me by in the blink of an eye without me ever realizing what it is?

Why is it so hard to live for today?

I want to make sure that I enjoy every minute of nowness because once it's gone, it's gone, and then I will never be able to get it back. The good, the bad, the emotional, the trying, the anguished, the inspiring, the silly, the beautiful moment. At the most I will have a picture or a video or a song or a smell that tries to capture that moment in time, but never quite succeeds.

Tomorrow I will not be able to relive today-- and there I go thinking about tomorrow again.